Power cut

hi, for how long can heater be off before water gets to cold for the fish? Municipality was diggng hole with machine to fix waterpipe ane cut off electrical cabel in process. So nw we are without power since half past 5.

 

Hi there, temp should not be a problem, remember your tanks water losses heat gradually and your fish adapt so when the power comes back the heater will do its job again......just check for whitespot for the next 3 day or so........what kind of fish do you keep??????

 

@pofkuiken wil do that thnx nd i hav angels, bala sharks, kissng gourami and plecos

 

Cool collection, just keep an eye on them but I`m sure they will be fine.........Regards.

 

Thanks @pofkuiken, and yes they r awesome.

 

Put a towel or blanket over the tank. Also try and get a portable air pump for your filter. Will lose fish if your cycle has to start again.

 

How big is the tank.. the bigger the tank, the slower the heat loss.

Agreee with Firefly... put blanket over to retain as much heat as possible.

 

And filter! Bacteria need some sort of circulation for oxygen or you will have to do small water changes for a while.

 

What is going to be too cold? Remember, we have a cold front and temp. is dropping crazy. Can one super heat (gas stove) some of the tank water and slowly mix that in when the temp goes too low? I would do that in any case, in small amounts, at regular intervals, so you do not lift the temp too much at once.

A break like that can take a long time to repair. The filter is surely going to loose all bacteria. Better order your Microbe lift now already.

Then there is also the oxygen factor to consider. How long before the oxygen level drop too much as a result of the lack of surface action and air bubbles? A sign of this will be fish frequently going to the surface for air. How does one handle that? Lower temp. can hold more oxygen, but if oxygen is not replenished, it means nothing.

 

Hi power is back on and so glad. All fish r ok. Added bio vital for microbes and enzymes etc. And thanx 2 all 4 the support much appreciated.

 

So for how long was the power down? Seems like 24 hours?

Tell us how you handled the situation, lessons learned etc.

 

Yea was down 4 24hours take or give some minutes. And used blanket to cover tank 4 the nite to retain some heat. Went lookng 4 portable pump bt couldnt find one. So i worried a bit about losing fish did add some hot water frm gas stove like you suggest @Tom.K . Didnt knw if it helpd tht much coz u cn nly add so much water frm heatng it up with stove, but guess evry bit helps. For future il try and use 12V battery for heater and small pump to draw energy frm if its possible might hav 2 add relay or somethng 2 convert current 2 accomodate 4 volts of heatr nd pump.

 

When my power was out for 4 days the Tedelex Intellipower 2 Back-up saved me.

When the batteries ran out I took it to a friend to recharge and used a battery operated air pump.
I did not lose 1 critter

Original thread = http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?6936-Centurion-Power-Outage.